FLOWERY BRANCH — Tampa Bay has won the past three NFC South division titles.
In their first season after Tom Brady’s retirement, the Bucs, who are set to face the Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, are in no hurry to relinquish their throne.
“It’s huge,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said of the matchup to Tampa media Monday. “We know it’s a round-robin tournament (within the division). We all play each other. It’s going to come down to the end.”
The Falcons (6-6) are in first place with five games to play. The Bucs (5-7) are a game back. The Falcons defeated the Bucs 16-13 in Tampa on Oct. 22 and would like to open a two-game lead.
“It’s very important to win division games,” said Bowles, who started his coaching career on Doug Williams’ staff at Morehouse in 1997. “It’s another division game coming up. We had a tough one in our place, and we’ve got to go (up) there and try to return to favor.”
The Bucs, who are led by quarterback Baker Mayfield, are coming off a 21-18 victory over the Panthers.
Mayfield completed 14 of 29 passes for 202 yards and had a passer rating of 68.5. Wide receiver Mike Evans put on a show, as he had seven catches for 162 yards and a touchdown.
Evans became the first wide receiver in NFL history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in each of his first 10 seasons. Jerry Rice, the league’s all-time receiving yards leader with 22,895 yards, did so 11 times from 1986-96 and had 14 total 1,000-yard seasons.
Rice had 927 yards in his rookie season in 1985.
“Mike Evans is a great player,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said.
In the previous meeting, Evans caught 6 of 8 targets for 82 yards and a touchdown. He caught a 40-yard touchdown in the game with A.J. Terrell in coverage. Terrell is in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Rookie Clark Phillips III took over for Terrell against the Jets on Sunday. The Falcons likely would have to switch veteran Jeff Okudah to cover Evans in man-to-man situations.
How the Falcons match up with Evans will be key.
“Every week in this league – like (rookie left guard Matthew) Bergeron (against the Jets),” Smith said. “I told him that’s one of the better matchups you’re going to have. You find out a lot about yourself. Quinnen Williams is a great player.
“That was a good matchup for Berg, but yeah, Tampa, we have a lot of respect for them. It’s just like a lot of teams they’re dealing with some injuries. We’ll have to see who they have up, but they will be ready to go.”
Smith, who calls the offensive plays, has a great deal of respect for Bowles, who calls their defensive signals for the Bucs.
“They will have a great plan, as they always do,” Smith said. “We know each other so well, but it’s a big game.”
In the last meeting, quarterback Desmond Ridder had three red-zone turnovers, and the Falcons needed a 51-yard field goal at the buzzer by Younghoe Koo to pull out the victory.
The Bucs have gone 2-4 since, with losses to Buffalo, Houston, San Francisco and Indianapolis. They defeated Tennessee and Carolina.
Linebacker Lavonte David (groin) and Devin White (foot) did not play against the Panthers. Rookie YaYa Diaby, who played at North Clayton High and Georgia Military College, started the past two games. He had six tackles against the Panthers and has five sacks on the season.
The secondary is led by Antoine Winfield Jr., who has 86 tackles, two interceptions and five quarterback hits. Winfield hit Ridder before he crossed the goal line and the ball went out of bounds, resulting in a touchback in the previous meeting.
The Falcons are not expecting a major overhaul by the Bucs.
“It’s not like you’re going to get a wholesale schematic change, but they have different pressure packages than they used last time,” Smith said. “We’ll have different things that we didn’t use, but you know the personnel pretty well.”
The Bucs, who give up 99 yards rushing per game (10th in league), remain stout on defense. They also have 34 sacks.
“They do a great job with their rush plans,” Smith said. “Some people call them pressures, but I always appreciate and why I’ve always had so much respect for Todd Bowles – there are a lot of great coaches in the league – but I do appreciate, you can see what they try to do week-in and week-out.”
The Falcons’ pass protection will get tested.
“There’s a lot (blitzes),” Smith said “When you study each other so much, they have some really good stuff. They’ve had to plug and play guys in. They’re a physical team. It’s a good challenge. We’re excited.”
This will be the 61st meeting. The series is tied 30-30, with the Falcons winning the past two meetings.
The Bow Tie Chronicles
About the Author
